1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to maintaining hygiene in a hospital-like setting, and more particularly to an article and method for reducing the contamination of surfaces of a patient transfer device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of products have been designed to move objects from one location to another and, in particular, transfer mobility-impaired individuals such as patients. In a hospital setting, patients must often be transported from their beds to an examination table or operating table, and back again. Basic devices for transferring patients include stretchers that are carried manually by two attendants, and wheeled gurneys that can more easily be handled by a single attendant.
The patient transfer device developed by Patterson and Smucker (U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,044) is designed to make the action of patient transfer between two support surfaces easier. Two tables, upper and lower, have counter-rotating belts which acquire and deliver a patient laterally with “frictionless” engagement, requiring minimal effort on the part of the operator of the device.
Such patient transfer devices will inevitably become contaminated after repeated usage by the patients' bodily fluids such as blood, sweat, urine, or mucus. Hospitals in particular have a special duty to maintain the hygiene of their medical equipment, and therefore, must be continuously vigilant about keeping facilities sanitary. In regards to patient transfer devices, it is of great importance to keep the upper and lower belts free of contaminants which can easily transmit many diseases to patients and medical professionals operating the device.
Medical staff spend a significant amount of time and effort in cleaning medical equipment, therefore any solution to this problem of maintaining high levels of cleanliness would have to be practical and efficient. An operator of patient transfer devices, such as a nurse or medical assistant, would be best aided by a method which would reduce the amount of effort required to clean the device, as well as reducing the amount of time the operator would spend cleaning it.
One approach to reducing infectious transmission is to use a sheet-like protective material that temporarily resides on a belt as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,642. This sheet is designed to increase the hygiene of the patient transfer device by acting as a barrier between the actual patient and the upper belt on which the patient would be lying. The sheet may be made out of foam plastic, absorbent padding, or waterproof material. A single-width sheet is installed in the patient transfer device by first pivoting the upper table to an open (acute) position, and then inserting the sheet between the upper and lower tables. The upper table is then pivoted back to the closed position with the sheet resting between the two tables. The outer end portion of the sheet is wrapped around the end of the upper table and is held in place by means of a hook and loop attachment. The sheet is then able to rotate around with the upper belt as it rotates. In another embodiment the sheet is double-wide and is folded before being inserted between the upper and lower belts, and the two outer end portions of the sheet are respectively wrapped around the ends of the upper and lower belts.
While the '642 sheet provides some protection against contamination, it still possesses many disadvantages. It still requires some skill to install the sheet so that it is properly aligned both longitudinally and transversely. Additionally, if the sheet were completely made of absorbent material then it would not be waterproof and fluids might saturate an area of the sheet and permeate through to the bottom side. Conversely, if the sheet were completely made of waterproof plastic then it may not be able to sufficiently contain bodily fluids which could trickle off the edge of the sheet and contaminate either the patient transfer belts or the patient support surface.
One serious drawback of the double-wide (folded) sheet in the '642 patent is that when the patient is being delivered, the sheet cannot be recaptured between the upper and lower belts. This deficiency causes the sheet to gather and bunch at the side of the table, inevitably resulting in contamination of the patient transfer device and possibly other objects in the surrounding area. With either of the '642 embodiments, if the sheet is not visibly stained by bodily fluids even though it is contaminated by them from prior use, there may be no way for the operator of the patient transfer device to discern that the sheet has already been used. In such a case the operator may carelessly re-use the contaminated sheet, risking the spread of infection.
It would, therefore, be desirable to devise an improved construction for a disposable sheet to be used with a patient transfer device which could more effectively reduce infectious transmissions. It would be further advantageous if the improved sheet construction could increase patient comfort, or include material characteristics which would facilitate the physical acquisition and delivery of the patient.